The other day I was thinking about what it takes to be successful in producing a song for someone. As I pondered the subject I came up with three things that I think are absolutely essential: Technical know-how, the ability to listen, and interpersonal skills. I also believe that these same three ideas can be applied to the general business world as well.

1) Technical Know-How

Let's face it, if you don't have the skill set to perform the task at hand, it doesn't matter how nice you are, how well you can listen, or how many credits you might have. If you can't do the work, then your clients are going to move on to someone who can. And in this day and age, not only do you need the technical skills, you also have to be quick. We live in an "instant" society and the practice of patience is an art that seems to be long lost and forgotten, unfortunately.

2) Ability To Listen

Listening. It sounds easy enough. People do it all the time. But do they really? I mean, I can have a conversation with you and hear everything that you say, but if I don't "listen" to what you're saying, I may miss something. It could be minor and insignificant or it could be major and potentially serious. The key is to really focus in on what the person is trying to say, their intent, and not necessarily the words that they use. I've been married for nearly 13 years and this is a skill that I'm still learning to develop every year.

3) Interpersonal Skills

Finally, the third key is the ability to relate and interact with people. For the most part, people enjoy being around other people that treat them nice and with respect. The Golden Rule really does apply here. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I'm sure there are probably a few people that would be classified as exceptions to this rule, but I don't know too many people that enjoy working with jerks.

Tie Them All Together

While each one of those skill sets is important, the interaction between all three is just as vital, and in my opinion, necessary, to success. Being able to relate to someone is great, but if you're unable to listen to what they're saying, you're not going to be as effective as you could be. And likewise, if you're able to hear what they're saying, but you don't have the technical ability to bring that thought into action, you better hope you have the interpersonal skills to tide them over until you can figure it out!